Month: November 2015

Many Financial Advisors have become skeptical about marketing. They consider it a four letter word because it’s too expensive. It’s too uncomfortable. Or it sucks. In fact, it’s not unusual for some Advisors develop real anxiety about marketing. The reality is that marketing does not have to be torture if you use a marketing approach that is uncomplicated, efficient and measurable. An approach that allows you to market as you work, not one that you do in place of your work. And if it’s right, you’ll see measurable results before you know it.

So, how do you grow a business? It’s through a dedicated marketing effort – a series of well thought out initiatives designed to raise your profile and create connections with potential customers.

You begin by focusing on activating your existing network of potential advocates. It’s more rewarding than spending time on individuals who are frequently disinclined to listen.

So who are your potential advocates? They are your current qualified clients – the clients you want to duplicate. Many will be open to becoming your most valuable trumpeters and will help you identify and connect to warm qualified prospects. But they must be identified and approached in a clear, “quiet” way, a way that addresses their existing “worldview”. You may recall, we discussed “worldview” in an earlier post. [Read Post] It refers to the underlying fact that existing and potential clients are skeptical of Financial Advisors. Most Advisor marketing approaches don’t recognize this or are not effective dealing with it.

Recognizing and addressing the worldview of your market is a foundational element to potent marketing and consistent business growth. Skepticism will evaporate, cursing – a thing of the past and marketing will be uncomplicated and maybe even fun.

The problem is not specifically you. The problem is that you’re a Financial Advisor and most consumers have a distrust of the industry. It is an established “worldview”, a belief or bias, and it’s not something you can change, no matter how many facts and figures you present to clients and prospects. Continue reading “Guess What? People Don’t Trust You”

About 9 out of 10 advisors say they are growth challenged, yet they are ineffective marketers trying to grow their business by doing the same thing over and over and over again and expecting a different result. It’s kind of insane.

Seriously, this probably sounds absurd, but just think it through. Like most businesses that focus on sales, financial advisors require a robust sales pipeline in order to grow. However, if you look around, the numbers show very few advisors have this pipeline in place. Why? (and here’s the insane part…) Because for years the traditional industry wide sales/marketing/referral model – which has been practiced by a great majority of advisors – in all its incarnations and “new” approaches, produces mostly sluggish, limited growth and a ultimately a small number of new qualified clients. Yet, many advisors are either afraid or don’t know how to break away from this sales model.

As such, advisors are ultimately at the mercy of the markets…and left with a small number of referrals for growth. The business controls them rather than the Advisor controlling their business.

It’s time to stop the insanity
There are, indeed, more productive ways to do business but advisors must be willing park their skepticism about anything new or different. Not that they don’t have reasons to be skeptical. Many advisors have been burned by expensive “sales gurus” programs and marketing programs that promised the moon and the stars.

We know new ideas and change can feel a little risky. But growth requires a little risk and being open to new ideas, no matter how “different” they may seem.

Client Centric Marketing, a division of MB Marketing, Inc., teaches Advisors how to work with the qualified friends, family and colleagues of their most valuable clients, the clients they want to duplicate.